A Field Guide to Rock Art Symbols of the Greater Southwest by Alex Patterson

by Alex Patterson

Field guide to the rock symbols, names, meaning

Genres: Archaeology, Reference, Native American, Nonfiction, Anthropology, Travel, History

Paperback

First published May 1, 1992

About the author

Alexander Evans Patterson, Jr. was born at New York Hospital, September 16th, 1923.He attended Lawrenceville and Princeton, and served in the Air Force in World War II, where he flew the P-51 "Mustang", among other aircraft. He enjoyed a distinguished career at IBM World Trade where he rose to Sr. VP and later, as Exec. VP at GTE, where he served as head of sales for Latin America and the Far East. In the early 1960's, Alex was the first developer to build condominiums in the Virgin Islands and later, he developed Meadgate on Milbank Avenue in Greenwich, which won a national architecture award. After he retired from business, he re-educated himself as an anthropologist and authored two books, A Field Guide to Rock Art of the Greater Southwest and Hopi Pottery Symbols. A Field Guide has been reprinted 17 times, with over 93,000 copies in print, and can be found in most of the National Monument Parks of the southwest. He served actively on the boards of Gallaudet University and Air Quality Sciences. Patterson, 91, passed away Tuesday, March 24, 2015 at the Greens in Wilton.

Reviews

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great guide to carry when hiking, if your looking to start to understand petroglyphs.

[Quinn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent reference books on rock drawings and petroglyphs of the Southwest. Packed with line drawings and photographs, the book is divided into subjects (lizard, clouds, spiral) in alphabetical order.

Each tribal meaning is also listed, so one symbol can mean different things to different tribes. And some of the pictographs have never been assigned a meaning.

It's a thoroughly researched book, well done and clear. It belongs in every hikers shelf and every historians reference list.

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this is a classic read, no longer published, for those interested in native americans, writing, communication, symbols, non-textual literacy, the American West, and pre-history for the Americas. He was a thinker, not an "educated" author and in a place that ivy anthropologists and archeologists came to dominate, this is a varied approach from a non-traditional authority.

[Patrick Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is Rock Art all around Tucson. I've actually interpreted at least one by using this book!

[J.D. Steens · Rating 3 out of 5]

Given the prevalence of rock art in the Southwest (USA), it’s striking how little is known about its meaning. As with Schaafsma’s comprehensive work on rock art, this book is mainly a descriptive cataloging of symbols (arrows, horns, flute players, family, rain, corn, etc), arranged alphabetically. The descriptions offer plausible explanations, with the caveat that these are, at heart, best guesses. It could be that a good part of these symbols have no meaning other than that they are representations of important aspects of Indian life - water, animals, the hunt, and various food sources. In that regard, it could be - for its time - a peek into the life and times of Indians and it is not more complicated than that. Still, there are clues that some of the symbols seen are more complex, especially when it comes to Shamanism that this book references throughout.

[Robert Gay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interpreting rock art is always difficult but at least there are some good illustrations in here.

[Michael · Rating 1 out of 5]

Incoherent. A genuine mess.